Cheap Monday Customised Tour Rolls into town

Fresh off the back of an international tour which saw Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, London and New York, Cheap Monday's Customised Denim Tour landed in Sydney this week offering scores of Swedes, outsider swamp rock tunes from The Nevada Strange, an installation of 50 numbered and customised pairs of jeans and Cheap Monday fashion, and more than a few rounds of complimentary drinks from Absolut, Lovells Lager and Santa Vittoria.

Still favouring a hand-crafted touch, the customised jeans, individually numbered 301-350 are regulation Cheap Mondays that have been patched, punctured, washed and sewn by hand to within an inch of recognition by the Cheap Monday designers in Sweden.

The label now synonymous with offbeat Swedish style, skin-tight denim, and an audacious approach to price, Cheap Monday has forged a legacy of accessible, on-trend, off-kilter designs that are super cheap.

In keeping with this trend, the Australian release of the 50 pairs of jeans are marked to sell for $90 - the same price as their less-distressed counterparts, and will be available to buy from That Store in Paddington and Chapel St. from Saturday April 18.

That Store Paddington: 128 Oxford St, Paddington NSW, 02 9331 7209
That Store Chapel St: 328 Chapel St, Prahran VIC, 03 9510 3633

www.cheapmonday.com

Romance Win Over Woolmark

Gleeful smiles were on the faces of the eagerly awaiting audience as the winner 'Romance Was Born' was announced at the prestigious Designer Award 2009 presented by Woolmark and supported by Vogue at the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival on March 17.

Designers Anna Plunkett and Lukes Sales of Romance Was Born were selected from a stellar line up of finalists which included Therese Rawsthorne and Antipodium from the Little Hero stable and also the talented Konstantina Mittas, Ellery and Gary Bigeni. Designers showed collections with a wool slant to demonstrate their innovative use of the fibre and proved that there is some exciting new talent on Australian shores paving the way for our future.




Romance Was Born received a standing ovation for their Autumn Winter 'Yeti Magic' collection from industry members, designers including Akira Isogawa and one very proud mother of designer Luke Sales. Their collection showed their bold craftmanship that is truly innovative and was a definite stand out of the show.

Anna Plunkett says, "We're really excited that our work translates - we are bold and innovative in the way we design so it's good to know people can appreciate it." Luke Sales comments on the timeliness of their win, "The award couldn't have come at a better time for us. We love wool and have always used it since graduating but now is our time to fully explore it. We're really excited."

Last year's winner Ben Pollitt of Friedrich Gray was one of the judges for the award this year and was at the show offering support for his peers; he pointed out the outstanding calibre of the finalists, 'It's so great to see so much new talent, it was really difficult to make our selection on the winner, Romance Was Born's collection was incredibly strong and bold - they can stand up on an international stage, their show would have been equally impressive in New York, Paris or Milan.'

The Designer Award is the 'jewel of the crown' at LMFF according to Festival Director, Karen Webster which she says is a stand out event followed closely by the Government House Opening Party where both Friedrich Gray and Romance Was Born were presented as 'The Future' alongside Dion Lee in a presentation covering a century of international fashion. 'The future' of Australian fashion is bright indeed, so while some may fade away there is a new breed of talent bursting through to shine, from the buzz of online blogging to prestigious awards like the Woolmark Designer Award it's becoming clearer that consumers and industry are ready for change with designers who make strong statements. As the motto of LMFF stated 'Ban the bland.' Bring it on we say!

View the Designer Award show online at Vogue.com.au - http://promotions.vogue.com.au/video/

http://www.romancewasborn.com

http://www.antipodium.com

http://www.thereserawsthorne.com

http://www.friedrichgray.com

Du Levande (You, the Living)

It's full tilt lock down preparation time for fashion week at Little Hero but it's also an inspired time of the year seeing collections and concepts come together.

I tend to watch a lot of films when I've got a lot of work on to relieve the mind from purely fashion related thoughts.

This week I watched Roy Andersson's film Du Levande (You, the Living); a film about humankind, its greatness and its baseness, joy and sorrow, its self-confidence and anxiety, its desire to love and be loved.

Every frame is incredible.

POP! A touch of Sweden comes to Sydney

POP!
379b South Dowling St, Darlinghurst NSW
April 1 - May 5 2009

Let me tell you a tale about a weekday wonderland...a place where living is easy, denim is cheap and fashion is fun once more.

POP! A touch of Sweden is coming to Sydney.

With department store shopping a brutal exercise in unwanted choice, Cheap Monday, the label now synonymous with offbeat Swedish style, skin-tight denim and an audacious approach to price bring you POP! - Cheap Monday's first Australian pop up store which is set to open on April 1.

Offering Cheap Monday's ubiquitous denim line with skinny silhouettes and straight leg jeans all with a lean price tag of $90, Cheap Mondays will be flying off the racks faster than you can say Cheap! Cheap!.
With undeniable edge and frivolous flair, the Cheap Monday fashion collection is sure to be snapped up with mens and ladies tees starting at $45, shirting from $90 and dresses, jackets and jumpers bursting with attitude at prices for peasants.

Opening hours:
10.30am - 6pm (open til 8pm Thursdays)
Enquiries to 02 9690 5555

Perks and Mini presents PAMBOOKS

Thursday March 19 - March 31, 2009
10am - 6pm
Someday/Metropolis Bookstore
Level 3, 252 Swanston Street
Melbourne







PAMbook is an independent publisher based in Melbourne, publishing artists and photographers whose work intersects with the world of P.A.M.

Sitting somewhere in between the tangible, unfiltered communication of a ‘zine’ and the heavy, well thought out ‘art book’, PAMbooks showcase some of the world’s finest artists and photographers within a concise A5 format volume.
PAMbook001 No Still Eye Deer, co-published with Paris fashion boutique Colette, released a series of what now consists of 20 titles containing contributions from an array of reputable artists.

Forming part of the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival's 2009 Cultural Program, PAMbook will exhibit the photography archive of these collectable books.

www.pambook.com
www.perksandmini.com

Last days of Batteries Not Included

Batteries Not Included
Australian Centre of Photography
257 Oxford Street, Paddington
Finishes Thursday 7th March



Curated by Joseph Allen and Malcolm Smith
Ben Barretto
Martin Bell
The Changes**
Marley Dawson
Ross Manning
Spat + Loogie
Paul Winkler
& Jonathan Zawada

Environments that encourage experimentation and risk-taking are often where the most interesting new ideas can be found. In these spaces, unlikely unions produce curious crossbreeds that defy easy classification.

Batteries Not Included at the Australian Centre for Photography presents the work of 12 artists investigating the hybrid offspring of photomedia; splicing photography with performance, reanimating found images or mechanising the moving image.

With backgrounds and influences as diverse as fashion, street culture, education, new and old technologies and telemarketing, the artists in this exhibition come from the fringes of contemporary visual art practice. With their appetite for risk-taking, experimentalism and disregard of convention, this selection of artists combines the fresh and energetic work of emerging artists with the ground-breaking work of legendary avant guard filmmaker Paul Winkler.

**The Changes are Roland Korg, Boohoo Haha, Aries Overload, and Vertical Doorway. To those who don’t know these names as yet think of Misha Hollenbach and Shauna T, better known as P.A.M - Perks& Mini from Melbourne, Fergus Purcell from London, better known as Fergadelic, and Sk8thing from Tokyo.

After gigs in Milan, Tokyo, and Los Angeles, their overpowering image concert is a mixture between a psychedelic campfire and a mysterious advertising pillar. From backgrounds in fashion, graphic design, pop, and art, the four band members have for a couple of years now applied themselves with sincere commitment and boundless passion for association to the magic of the autodidactic underground. In their interventions, the influence of and the experience with the CULTural explosions of the 80s and 90s - rave, metal, acid, punk, freak-out, rainbow, black, silver, gold, latex, leather, and denim - merge into a redefinition of the present, a joyful, comic explosion, pulsating with energy and positivism.

Wild about Weston

Giddy up! Little Hero goes west introducing the ingenious and inspired jeweller Matt Weston to our Surry Hills saloon (aka showroom).

Ever since he can remember, Matt Weston has been interested in creating different types of body adornment drawing inspiration from travel and street culture. Sourcing materials from flea markets and antique fairs in far flung places around the globe, Matt Weston creates an androgynous look with pieces that have a 'one off', raw, industrial aesthetic with a punk twist. Decadence and glamour are given a grungy, rock and roll edge with hand crafted neckpieces, rings, bracelets, brooches and hats which nod to a bygone era.

His inventive and original pieces rework and recycle everyday objects including rigging clasps, antique trinkets, feathers and coins combined with silver, pewter and leathers to evoke a strong sense of character while still retaining classical design elements.



Describing his collections as a 'sub-cultural lost and found with a measure of subversion and a light hearted twist', Weston's innovative ideas have culminated in collaborations with highly acclaimed local designers including Friedrich Gray and Marnie Skillings and the creation of an exclusive line for General Pants nationally under the name of 'Pieces of Eight'.

Weston is currently working on his Spring Summer 09/10 collection which will see a shift forward in design through the introduction of colour and beading as well as continued collaborations with designers in the works for RAFW in April/May.

Matt Weston is available in reputable boutiques nationally including Incu, Periscope, Fallow, Capital L, Dobry Den, Fat, Whistles, Billie & Rose and online at www.mattwestonjewellery.com







Photography: Jordan Graham
Styling: David Bonney
Hair: Gavin Anesbury
Make-up: Claire Thomson
Photographic Assistant: Tane Coffin
Styling Assistant: Ms Fitz
Digital Operator: Jeremiah Wolf

Top 7 Records of the Minute

1. BEACHES - S/T



2. M.WARD - HOLD TIME



3. BON IVER - FOR EMMA, FOREVER AGO



4. FLEET FOXES - S/T



5. BO DIDDLEY - CHESS MASTERS



6. STEREOLAB - CHEMICAL CHORDS



7. PAVEMENT - BRIGHTON THE CORNERS

Yayoi Kusama : Mirrored Years

On Sunday I got to see the show I have dreamt about for a while. Yayoi Kusama at the MCA is not to be missed...

Yayoi Kusama: Mirrored Years
MCA - 24 FEBRUARY - 8 JUNE 2009

“ebullient, alternately sexy and innocent”
– New York Times

Discover the work of internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama with this major exhibition that spans decades of her artistic practice.

Yayoi Kusama: Mirrored Years demonstrates the enduring force of Yayoi Kusama. Renowned early installations such as Infinity Mirror Room – Phalli’s Field (1965) along with recent immersive environments including Fireflies on the Water (2000) and Clouds (2008) provide insight into the creative energy of this extraordinary artist and her lifelong preoccupation with the perceptual, visual and physical worlds.

Working across different media and forms that include painting, collage, sculpture, installation and film, as well as performance and its documentation, Kusama creates works that reveal a fixation with repetition, pattern and accumulation. Describing herself as an “obsessive artist”, her work is intensely sensual, infused with autobiographical, psychological and sexual content.

Stellar debut for Seventh Wonderland at Swim Fashion Week 2009

Thursday 26th February at 4pm
Sanctuary Cove, Queensland

Designer Bonnie Coumbe unveiled the Seventh Wonderland Spring Summer 2009/10 swimwear collection in her debut show at Swim Fashion Week today.

Seventh Wonderland cleverly fused their fashion aesthetic with classic swim shapes which were pinnacled by cut out and lace trims, 'lingerie' details, deco prints and a dedication to quality fabrications. Coumbe's extensive background (ex Jets and textile designer for Karolina York) was clear in her execution of a tight collection of wearable statement swimwear.

The collection hinted at 70's styling, opulence and romance with a nod to Biba through distinctive cuts and detailing and a focus on statement one pieces which included laser cut techniques, crochet and panelling. Seventh Wonderland showed swimwear as outerwear teaming swim with fashion pieces - their truly modern take on 'swimwear as fashion' for those who aspire to wear unique & beautifully constructed pieces from the beach to the bar.

The Seventh Wonderland label was launched by Coumbe with partner Carlos Aviles in July 2008 at the Miami Swim Show, the show today was their second collection and concreted their reputation as a new talent to watch.

Following the show the collection had caught the eye of the Macys (USA) and Coco (Japan) buyers who are currently viewing the collection to buy. Seventh Wonderland's impressive stockist list already encapsulates leading boutiques locally including Fat, Tuchuzy, Pretty Dog, Atlas, Bessie Head and I Heart in New York.

Seventh Wonderland will show again at Australian Fashion Week at the end of April.

www.seventhwonderland.com